Waku — Anonymous Interest-Based Chat

Waku — a web platform for anonymous communication based on shared interests.
Instant connections, complete anonymity, and smart user matching.

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Features

• Complete anonymity — no registration required, temporary user IDs
• Interest-based matching — choose up to 10 tags and find people with similar interests
• Instant connection — WebSocket-powered real-time communication
• Interactive chat — typing indicator, delivery/read statuses
• Beautiful UI — purple-themed interface with smooth animations
• Responsive design — works on both mobile and desktop

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Quick Start

Requirements

• Docker & Docker Compose

Run with Docker Compose

git clone https://github.com/notyado/Waku.git
cd Waku
docker-compose up --build

Service Access

Service	URL	Description
Frontend	http://localhost:3000	React client application
Backend API	http://localhost:8080	Go-based WebSocket server

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Project Structure

waku/
├── waku-backend/         # Go backend
│   ├── cmd/api/
│   │   └── main.go       # Entry point
│   ├── internal/
│   │   ├── matchmaker/   # Matching algorithm
│   │   ├── models/       # Data models
│   │   ├── nats/         # NATS client
│   │   └── server/       # WebSocket server
│   ├── config/           # Configuration
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── go.mod
│
├── waku-frontend/        # React frontend
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   │   └── screens/  # Application screens
│   │   ├── store/        # Zustand store
│   │   └── types/        # TypeScript types
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── package.json
│
└── docker-compose.yml

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Technologies

Backend (Go)

• Go 1.26 — programming language
• Gorilla WebSocket — WebSocket connections
• NATS — message broker for scaling
• UUID — unique ID generation

Frontend (React + TypeScript)

• React 18
• TypeScript — static typing
• Vite — build tool
• Zustand — state management
• Framer Motion — animations
• Tailwind CSS — styling
• shadcn/ui — UI components

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Core Components

Matchmaker (internal/matchmaker/)

User matching algorithm priorities:

1. Maximum tag overlap
2. Waiting time (FIFO)
3. Fallback to any available user

WebSocket Hub (internal/server/)

• Client connection management
• Message routing through NATS
• Chat room management

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WebSocket API

Outgoing Messages (Client → Server)

Type	Description	Payload
join	Start searching	tags: string[]
message	Send a message	msg_id, text
typing	Typing indicator	is_typing: boolean
skip	Skip current chat	—
read	Mark as read	msg_id

Incoming Messages (Server → Client)

Type	Description	Payload
joined	Connection established	user_id
searching	In matchmaking queue	—
matched	Partner found	room_id, common_tags
chat_message	New message	msg_id, text, timestamp
partner_left	Chat partner left	—
delivered	Message delivered	msg_id
read_ack	Message read	msg_id

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Made with ❤️‍🩹 by Yado